But the new poll suggests that the intolerant few who publicly berated Yale faculty over Halloween costumes—and even forced the resignation of those who wouldn’t embrace their extremism—do not speak for most Yale undergrads. Here’s hoping that those who cherish free speech on campus will start exercising this precious right. The majority of students could stand as a bulwark of freedom not just against the loud and intolerant few among their classmates, but also against administrators who have lately been seeking to maintain a gag rule on alumni candidates for Yale’s board of trustees.
Certainly it can sometimes require courage to speak up. In the survey, 70% of Yalies said they have “often” experienced political bias in the classroom and 88% said that most of their professors are liberal, while just 1% said most of their professors are conservative.
The survey sample leaned a bit to the left, with 44% of respondents identifying themselves as Democrats compared to 14% who call themselves Republicans. A slim majority, 52%, identify as liberals, while 24% call themselves conservative.
But regardless of their personal views, Yale students seem to think the campus renaming trend has gone just about far enough.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member